Bosnia war criminals lose appeal

Esad Landzo (right): Muslim guard joined the abuse

Three men who murdered, raped and tortured ethnic Serbs during the Bosnian civil war have lost nearly all aspects of an appeal against their convictions.

Appeal judges at the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague quashed only the less serious charges against the three.

And they ordered that the sentences passed against the men - of up to 20 years in prison - should be reviewed, hinting one of them was not long enough.

The camp at Celebici housed Bosnian Serb prisoners

The case, one of the most complex ever to come before the tribunal, was the first to deal with attacks on Serb civilians, and the first to establish that rape could be legally held to be torture.

The three convicted men were in charge of the Celebici prison camp in central Bosnia, where the atrocities were committed, in 1992.

Witnesses at the original trial described how camp inmates were tortured, beaten to death by guards wielding baseball bats, set on fire, and raped.

The camp's deputy commander, Hazim Delic, a Muslim, was found guilty of murder and rape and given the heaviest sentence - 20 years.

Delic: Deputy commander took "sadistic pleasure" in abuse

Judges said he had taken sadistic pleasure in causing pain and created a climate of terror and absolute fear around the camp.

Esad Landzo, a Muslim guard who had admitted some crimes, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Camp commander Zdravko Mucic, a Croat, was convicted for failing to stop the atrocities and jailed for seven years. The appeal judges suggested 10 years would be more appropriate.

But the appeal judges upheld the original decision to acquit the region's military commander, Zejnil Dalalic, of all charges.

Judges found that his connection to the Celibici camp was too remote.

In the Celebici region, more than half the population were Bosnian Muslims, and a quarter Bosnian Croats.